The present invention relates generally to telecommunication systems and particularly to systems and methods for testing telecommunication systems.
Current telecommunication systems are composed of large networks with system topologies having a multitude of processors at the central offices, switches, and adjunct systems of the networks. Within these network system topologies, a central office maintains control over a network area of a telecommunication system. Within the network area, there are numerous switches that process incoming and outgoing calls. These switches are located at both the central office and in the field, physically outside the central office boundaries. All of the switches are part of the network area controlled by the central office. An example of such a switch is included in an adjunct system, which is located within or outside of a central office and contains a processor and the necessary components to process a call. An adjunct system assists a corresponding switch by assuming some of the processing duty of the switch.
As communications systems continue to grow worldwide so does the need to test and analyze adjunct systems and switches associated with the development and maintenance of the communication systems. There are practical problems associated with testing and analyzing adjunct systems and switches. For example, present methods and tools for testing and analyzing adjunct systems and switches do not provide the comprehensive data or the needed access to the adjunct systems and switches. Furthermore, adjunct systems and switches are developed in a closed environment and built in an isolated network system topology with limited access to the internal functional components of the adjunct systems and switches. As a result, detailed knowledge of the hardware and software states is not directly available to those who perform the testing and analysis.
Because current test methods and tools are not integrated with the adjunct systems and switches, test systems need to be sophisticated, and in some cases more sophisticated than the adjunct systems and switches under test. Additionally, developers are frequently required to send special software and hardware equipment and products to a field site to gather essential information to perform a desired test. In view of the foregoing, the present methods and tools do not provide an adequate means for performing testing of adjunct systems and switches in real time.
Therefore, there is a need in telecommunication systems for a system and method that is integrated with adjunct systems and switches for performing in real time testing of the adjunct systems and switches.